Member contributions

Our members are increasing and deepening their range of interdisciplinary cross-university research initiatives. This includes:

• Dr Paolo Zeppini and Dr Alistair Hunt's work with the Institute for Mathematical Innovation, Department of Mathematics
• Dr Alistair Hunt and Dr Lucy O'Shea's involvement with the Mongolian Air Quality project, the Water Innovation and Research Centre, Department of Chemical Engineering
• Dr Alistair Hunt and Dr Eleonora Fichera's co-leadership of the Water in the Circular Economy research group at the Institute for Policy Research and School of Management
• collaboration on the MRC-funded project on Tackling the Root Causes of Unhealthy Planning in Decision-making

Outside the University, Dr Lucy O’Shea advises the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), whilst Dr Alistair Hunt provides technical support to the Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, undertaken by the Climate Change Committee.

Measuring the economic impacts of environmental pollution

Projects

In-Stream

The IN-STREAM project undertakes the qualitative and quantitative assessments necessary for linking mainstream economic indicators with key well-being and sustainability indicators, providing needed insight into the synergies and trade-offs implicit in Europe’s simultaneous pursuit of economic growth and environmental sustainability.

This project is funded by the European Commission.  

Climate Change Impacts on the Future Cost of Living

The aim is to explore how climate change could affect the future costs of living in the UK at the household level and the implications for low income households.

This project is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.  

Publications

• On the Macroeconomics of the Quantity and Quality of Life 
• Environmental taxes and economic growth: evidence from panel causality tests

Understanding behavioural changes and the environment

Projects

Green lifestyles, Alternative Models and Upscaling Regional Sustainability (GLAMURS)

The overall aim of GLAMURS is to develop a theoretical framework that is informed by, and tested using, empirical data to create a better understanding of the obstacles and prospects for transitions to sustainable lifestyles and a green economy in Europe.

This project is funded by the European Commission.

Tackling the Root Causes of Unhealthy Planning, Economics and Decision-making: An Urban Systems Approach

This project researches two major city/city regions’ urban planning and development systems with a view to embedding the prevention of risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases and health inequalities in decision-making on planning.

This project is funded by the Medical Research Council

Economics of Climate Change Adaptation in Europe

The aim of the ECONADAPT project is to provide user-orientated methodologies and evidence relating to economic appraisal criteria to inform the choice of adaptation actions using analysis that incorporates cross-scale governance under conditions of uncertainty.

This project is funded by the European Commission.  

Publications

• Is there a social norm to recycle?
• Diffusion with social reinforcement: the role of individual preferences
• Is Owning your Home Good for your Health? Evidence from exogenous variations in subsidies in England
• Pandemics, vulnerability and prevention: time to fundamentally reassess how we value and communicate risk?
• Concession Bargaining: An Experimental Comparison of Protocols and Time Horizons

Population behaviour and international environmental policy

Projects

Identification of Potential ‘Remedies for Air Pollution (nitrogen) Impacts on Designated Sites (R.A.P.I.D.S)

The purpose of this project is to gather all the evidence of the potential effects and existing legislation and measures to tackle them, with the view to providing a clear guide to conservation managers about how to manage nitrogen related pollution affecting their sites.

This project is funded by Defra.  

Optimal waste management: comparing the UK and Japan

We compare the organisation of waste collection and disposal across the UK and Japan focusing in particular on the degree of outsourcing waste services in both countries.

This project is funded by the Daiwu Foundation.  

Explaining the variation in household recycling rates across the UK

Our results suggest that the method of recycling collection chosen by policy makers is an important factor influencing the recycling rate. We also find an inverse relationship between the frequency of the residual waste collection and the recycling rate.

This project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).  

NextGen - Towards a next generation of water systems and services for the circular economy

The NextGen project looks at demonstrating technologies with a potential to contribute to reuse and recovery of resources within a perspective of circular economy.

This project is funded by the European Commission.  

Waste Food-Energy-Water Urban Living Labs - Mapping and Reducing Waste in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus

This project aims to map and substantially reduce waste in the urban food-energy-water (FEW) nexus in city-regions across three continents: Europe, Africa and South America. 

This project is funded by the Belmont Forum and Urban Europe.  

Assessing Health, Livelihoods, Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA)

The overall aim of ESPA Deltas was to provide policy makers with the knowledge and tools to enable them to evaluate the effects of policy decisions on ecosystem services and people's livelihoods. This links science to policy at the landscape scale and engages national level policy processes that impact at a community level.  This project is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)  

Publications

• The Displacement Effect of Convenience: The Case of Recycling 
• Explaining the variation in household recycling rates across the UK 
• A discrete choice model of transitions to sustainable technologies 
• Global competition dynamics of fossil fuels and renewable energy under climate policies and peak oil: A behavioural model 
• How Do Oil Prices, Macroeconomic Factors and Policies Affect the Market for Renewable Energy?